Headlines

  • Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury
  • Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin
  • Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib
  • Tucker Barnhart To Retire
  • Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline
  • Reds Release Jeimer Candelario
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Michael Tonkin Accepts Outright Assignment With Twins

By Darragh McDonald | June 13, 2025 at 3:50pm CDT

Right-hander Michael Tonkin has cleared outright waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A St. Paul. He was on the 60-day injured list and pitching on a rehab assignment but it seems the Twins decided not to reinstate him to the roster. He had the right to reject the assignment and elect free agency but has decided to forgo that right. Dan Hayes of The Athletic was among those to relay the information.

Tonkin, 35, has been posting good numbers over the past few years but is out of options. That’s led to plenty of bouncing around the league. He signed with the Mets going into 2024 but ended up going to the Twins, back to the Mets, the Yankees and Twins again throughout the season via waiver claims or small trades. He and the Twins avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $1MM salary for the 2025 campaign.

Unfortunately, he’s been on the shelf for all of this year so far. He was diagnosed with a right rotator cuff strain in March and started the season on the 15-day IL. He was on a rehab assignment from mid-April to mid-May but was pulled off that rehab due to biceps tendinitis. He was transferred to the 60-day IL shortly thereafter. He restarted the rehab assignment about a week ago.

As mentioned, Tonkin is out of options, meaning the Twins would have had to plug him onto the active roster in order to reinstate him from the IL. They went the waiver route instead. Players with more than three years of major league service time have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. However, players with less than five years of service have to forfeit any remaining salary commitments in order to exercise that right.

Tonkin came into this year with his service clock at four years and 74 days, putting him 98 days shy of the five-year mark. By my count, 78 days have elapsed in the 2025 season so far, putting Tonkin 20 days shy of that line. That means he would have to walk away from what remains to be paid out of his salary in order to head to free agency, making it fairly unsurprising that he has accepted.

That means the Twins get to hang onto an experienced pitcher without him taking up a roster spot. Over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, Tonkin tossed 159 1/3 innings for various clubs with a 3.95 earned run average, 24.1% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate. He’ll keep pitching for the Saints and try to stay ready for his next major league call. If he’s not added back to the roster by season’s end, he would be able to elect free agency, like all players with three-plus years of service who have been outrighted during the season.

Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Minnesota Twins Transactions Michael Tonkin

Mariners Outright Leody Taveras
Main
Gunnar Hoglund Done For Season Due To Hip Surgery
View Comments (5)
Post a Comment

5 Comments

  1. mlbnyyfan

    3 weeks ago

    Surprised Cashman didn’t bring him back he does shop for Clearance pitchers.

    2
    Reply
  2. ForDoingNothing

    3 weeks ago

    Just odd the twins were so adamant on bringing him back and guaranteeing a 40 man roster spot then just as he’s healthy he loses his 40 man spot to Wentz lol

    1
    Reply
  3. wjf010

    3 weeks ago

    of course he accepted it. twins pitchers are either getting injured by the week or getting exposed as frauds

    1
    Reply
  4. AKWolvesFan

    3 weeks ago

    Baldelli and Co. couldn’t recognize pitching talent if they seen it.

    2
    Reply
  5. Ok Yankees Fan

    2 weeks ago

    Cashman, bring back TONK!!!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline

    Griffin Canning Believed To Have Suffered Achilles Injury

    Mariners Looking For Corner Infield Bats; Ownership Willing To Bump Payroll

    Wander Franco Found Guilty Of Sexual Abuse

    Mariners Place Rowdy Tellez On Release Waivers

    Max Meyer To Undergo Season-Ending Hip Surgery

    Whit Merrifield Announces Retirement

    White Sox Sign Noah Syndergaard To Minor League Deal

    Corbin Carroll Placed On IL With Wrist Fracture

    Hoops Rumors Has The Latest On NBA Draft, Free Agency

    Mets Option Francisco Alvarez

    Reds To Promote Chase Burns For MLB Debut

    Recent

    Padres To Select Eduarniel Nunez

    Brewers’ Connor Thomas To Undergo Elbow Surgery

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Jorge Mateo To Miss 8 To 12 Weeks With Hamstring Strain

    Reds To Sign Buck Farmer To Minor League Deal

    Pirates Trade Hunter Stratton To Braves

    Rockies Designate Sam Hilliard For Assignment, Select Austin Nola

    Orioles Select Jacob Stallings, Designate Emmanuel Rivera For Assignment

    Rangers Select Billy McKinney, Transfer Tyler Mahle To 60-Day IL

    Marlins Claim Nick Nastrini

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version